The Extra Piece
by Orcamoon-Seal
Summary: When the BLU Spy saves the RED Sniper during battle, they form an unbreakable friendship. However, the Administrator does not approve of this and sends someone to...dispose...of the Sniper.
1. Chapter 1

HUUUUUGE thanks to Lily for being my beta and for helping me improve the story greatly! :3

This is my first fanfic...I hope you enjoy it!

**I do not own TF2 or any of the characters in it.**

* * *

"YOU! WAKE UP AND PAY ATTENTION!"

The Sniper opened one eye to peer at the Soldier. Unsurprisingly, the color of the Soldier's face matched the color of his uniform: red.

"I never said I was sleepin', mate," the Sniper said calmly. "And I'm payin' attention."

The Soldier just grunted. "You didn't _look_ like you were paying attention."

The Australian opened both eyes. "But how do you know whether I was or wasn't?"

"SHUT UP OR I WILL STUFF A GRENADE DOWN YOUR THROAT AND GET THE PYRO TO SET YOU ON FIRE!"

The Sniper sat up a little straighter. He knew that the Soldier was fully capable of carrying out his threats. "Roight…roight…don't get all riled up, mate…."

The Soldier looked satisfied. "Anyways, as I was saying, the BLUs will head towards the Payload cart expecting sentry guns, sniper rifles and sticky bombs. I still want you to do that, but this time, target the Heavy and the Medic. Last time, they CRUSHED US BECAUSE WE WERE NOT PREPARED. Spy," the Soldier said, jabbing his finger at the Frenchman. "I want you to…."

Soon, the American's long battle plan became a dull buzzing in the Sniper's ears. He didn't need to pay attention, as he never had a significant role, except for picking off powerhouses and making sure his outpost wasn't revealed. Hopefully, that would change, but the Aussie somehow doubted that.

The Sniper was suddenly aware of chairs scraping against the floor and people moving about. The meeting was adjourned. The Sniper got up and stretched. He vaguely registered the Engineer saying good night to him as he began to walk out of the base, heading towards his camper van. He yawned as he opened the door of the van and climbed inside. After a moment of scrambling around items strewn around the floor, he collapsed onto a small cot he considered a bed. The Sniper fell asleep almost instantly.

Before he knew it, he was wide awake at Badwater Basin, hearing the familiar cold voice of the Announcer.

"Mission begins in 60 seconds."

The Sniper ran up into a building as his fellow teammates began to set up for the beginning of the match. He loaded his rifle clip and scanned the area.

"Mission begins in 30 seconds."

The Engineer was upgrading his sentry gun. The Sniper never figured out how the Texan managed to work while guarding against the BLU Spy, being under enemy fire, and protecting his buildings all at the same time. Once, he had asked him about it, but the Engineer just shrugged and said that he worked well under pressure.

"Mission begins in 10 seconds."

The Sniper adjusted his position slightly. He saw the BLU Heavy trailed by the BLU Medic. The Medic was close to a full Übercharge. The Sniper could tell by the slightly glowing Medigun. The Sniper raised his rifle and aimed at the sliding gate. The sound of the RED Demoman planting sticky bombs was heard. A glimmer of red passed by and hid behind a rock.

"5."

The RED Scout was taunting the BLU Scout. The BLU Scout looked extremely irked.

"4."

The Soldier was tense, aiming at the Payload cart itself.

"3."

The Sniper took a quick sip of coffee.

"2."

"MAGGOTS!" the BLU Soldier yelled. The RED Sniper hissed in disgust.

"1."

The gate slid open. The Sniper fired his rifle. There were the screams of the BLU Medic and Heavy. The Australian chucked.

A bullet whizzed past his ear. The Sniper immediately turned to see his BLU counterpart, taking shelter behind the Payload cart. He snarled and pulled the trigger. The BLU Sniper fell to the ground.

Despite the RED Team's efforts, the cart began to move forwards. The Sniper heard the Engineer cry, "Sentry do-!" and the strangled cry of the Texan:

"_SPY!_"

Goosebumps rose on the Sniper's arms_. Oy, not that spook…don'tlethimfindmedon'tlethimfindme…._

"THE CART IS NEARING A CHECKPOINT!" screamed the Announcer. The Sniper groaned. How had it taken only a couple of seconds for the cart to reach the first checkpoint?! Quickly, he tried to pick off the Scout-

"The _enemy_ has received additional time."

The Sniper cursed under his breath. There was the soft sound of something metal landing on the floor….

He looked down. A blue grenade sat innocently on the floor.

There was an explosion, and then the Sniper was floating in a black void.

"Ah, piss…." He cursed. A few seconds later, he respawned. He looked around the room and was surprised to see many team members also in the room.

"THOSE BLUS MUST NEVER REACH THE END!" the Soldier screamed. "MEN, FIGHT LIKE YOU'VE NEVER FOUGHT BEFORE!"

And with that, the Soldier ran off. The other teammates roared and also ran forward. The Sniper was left behind. He ran out, dodging bullets fired from the BLU Heavy's mini gun.

Somehow, the Sniper managed to get to another building unscathed. He quickly loaded his clip and aimed at the Heavy and Medic pair. The Heavy suddenly said, "CHARGE ME, DOKTOR!"

The Sniper gripped the trigger more tightly.

The floorboards creaked slightly.

Instinctively, the Sniper took out his Kukri and whirled around to stand face-to-face with the BLU Spy holding his butterfly knife. They glared at each other.

"You," the Sniper growled, gripping his machete.

"Yes, me." The Spy took out his revolver. "Now stand still."

"Not on yer bloody loife," the Sniper spat. He lunged and slashed downward. By accident, the Kukri caught the Spy's revolver and knocked it out of the Frenchman's hand. The Sniper stumbled forward as the revolver clattered to the ground. Quickly, the Spy took out his butterfly knife as the Sniper recovered.

The two circled each other like wolves. The Spy took a step forward. The Sniper took a step back.

The Spy continued to advance. The Sniper continued to walk backwards…until he nearly fell out the window. The Spy chuckled leaned forward. He grabbed the Sniper's Kukri, wrenching it out of his hand.

"My weapons do not have to be big in order to kill you," the masked man said. He raised his knife.

The Spy's eye involuntarily twitched. His eyes widened and he tackled the Sniper sideways.

There was an explosion. Shrapnel flew everywhere. The Sniper landed on the floor on his back, winding himself.

"What th' hell was that fer, ye bloody wanka?" the Sniper spat. "Get offa me!"

The Spy got up and ran off, picking up his revolver along the way. The Sniper brushed off his clothes and looked around to find the explosion's source.

The remains of a rocket lay amongst the chunks of broken wood and splinters. The Australian's eyes widened. The careless trigger-happy American had accidentally misfired, and the Spy, the _BLU Spy_, had saved him. The Sniper became oblivious to the noise outside of the building. Even when the Announcer screamed at the RED Team for failure, he didn't move. A small question formed in his mind.

_Why?_

He walked back to respawn in a daze. The Soldier was yelling at everyone for being incompetent cowards. The Sniper walked back to his camper van and drove back to the base, barely thinking about his actions. All he thought about was the BLU Spy.

The Australian ate dinner with his mind on the Spy. He sat through the Soldier's lecture on battle tactics thinking of the Spy. He went to bed thinking about the Spy. It was only when he fell to sleep did he stop thinking about him.

The Sniper woke up to a bugle being blasted in his ear. His eyes snapped open and he clamped a hand to his ear.

"OW!" he yelped. He turned to look at the Soldier, who was badly playing some sort of army tune. The Australian glared at him. "Was that really necessary, mate?"

"YOU! GET UP AND MEET OUTSIDE OF THE BASE NOW! THE ENTIRE TEAM IS RUNNING TEN LAPS AROUND THE BASE AND DOING 100 PUSH-UPS!" The Soldier paused to take a breath. "OUR PREFORMANCE YESTERDAY WAS A DISAPPOINTMENT! I DO NOT WANT TO SEE THAT AGAIN!"

He marched back out the door just as suddenly as he had appeared. The Sniper felt a twinge of guilt. He could have easily headshot the Medic and Heavy pair, but instead, he dealt with the BLU Spy.

And the Spy! The Sniper had been bested by the shape-shifting rat like an amateur. The only reason the Spy didn't kill him was to save him from an explosion. The Sniper became annoyed. HE, a professional assassin, had to be saved by a lowly, backstabbing, cowardly-

"I DON'T HEAR YOU MOVING, MAGGOT!"

The Sniper quickly walked out the door.

When he was outside of the base, he noticed seemed unusually cold for a day in October. But that was probably just the Sniper's Australian blood and how he favored warm climates. The bushman spotted the Engineer fiddling with his Gunslinger, waiting for the Soldier to come out and drill them. The Sniper walked over and greeted him. The Engineer looked at him.

"Gettin' mighty cold for a day in October, don't ya think?" the Texan asked. The Sniper agreed.

"Do ye have any idea why we failed yesterday, mate?" the Aussie inquired. The Engineer frowned.

"I take it you didn't listen to Solly, either, then, eh? I don't know…the BLUs didn't seem that different. Maybe we just ain't usin' the right strategy," the Engineer answered.

"Oh, no," the Sniper groaned. "Don't bring up strategy when Solly's around. He'll go on a rant about Sun Tzu, or whoever he always talks about."

The Engineer gave out a short laugh and continued to fiddle with his robotic arm.

There was the crunching of gravel. The Sniper glanced up to see the Scout being chased by the Soldier. "I think we best get runnin', mate."

At noon, the Sniper was lying in his camper van, ignoring his lunch. His muscles had never been sorer. Even the Scout was tired, but that was probably due to the push-ups, not the running. The Soldier had drilled them, all right. While doing his laps around the base, the Sniper dared to ask the Soldier why he wasn't doing the drills with them. He ended up getting two extra laps.

He tried to roll over into a more comfortable position, but that just made it worse. Maybe the RED Spy-

A flash of anger came as he remembered the BLU Spy as well as the RED Spy. He couldn't believe how he had failed to do his job yesterday, how the Spy, the _BLU Spy,_ had to save him from an unfortunate death, how easily the REDs were crushed.

The Sniper felt worthless.

Like an extra piece to a puzzle that didn't fit.

A knock came at the door. The Sniper stared at the door for a second before getting up, his body protesting at every movement. He stiffly walked over and opened the door. The Pyro was standing there.

"Mmphm myphrr!" the Pyro mumbled happily. He—what gender was it, anyways?—had avoided doing the drills by threatening to set the Soldier on fire if he forced him to do the exercises.

The Sniper smiled. "Hullo, Pyro."

The Pyro kept mumbling on. The Sniper frowned, deciphering it. He realized what the Pyro was saying.

"You were worried about me? Why?" the Sniper asked.

"Mmph, ymr umphmmy mmph't smmph sm mmpch tmmph mmm ymr cmmphhr vrrn," the Pyro mumbled.

"I…usually don't spend…so much time…in my camper van?" the Sniper suggested. The Pyro nodded vigorously. The Pyro mumbled something else and held up a crude picture.

"Uh…thank you, Pyro," the Sniper said, taking the picture. The Pyro gave a thumbs-up and began to walk back to the base. Once the Pyro was out of sight, the Australian examined the picture. There was a Spy on fire with a Pyro standing off to the side. The Spy was obviously the BLU Spy due to the hastily splotched on blue paint.

The Sniper was thankful for his friend's thoughtfulness, but the picture made him a bit upset. _Even the damn Pyro has to take care of my problems for me. At least in this picture._

The Sniper folded up the picture and, after pausing for a minute, hid it underneath his small bed. There was a battle tomorrow, and he didn't want to get sidetracked while driving to 2Fort.


	2. Chapter 2

Yay! New chapter! Sorry for the long wait, I had a major procrastination problem to deal with

I do not own TF2, all characters belong to Valve

Another thanks to Lilyrosethedreamer for beta-ing this~

* * *

Humming "Waltzing Matilda" to himself, the Sniper started up his camper van. He maneuvered it onto the road and began to drive towards 2Fort. No thoughts of the BLU Spy troubled him, and all he thought of was how many headshots he would get this time.

In about 30 minutes, he arrived at the fortresses. The Sniper had once walked through both during the orientation tour, and was surprised to see how similar the two buildings were.

The Sniper got out of his camper van, squinting at the glaring sun despite his sunglasses. Some of his teammates were already walking into the building. He heard the sound of someone approaching and turned to see the Medic. "Hullo there, Medic."

"Guten tag, Herr Sniper," the German said. "I am thinking of Übercharging ze Scout to capture ze intelligence easily."

The Sniper laughed. "Good luck tryin' ta keep up with that littl' jackrabbit."

The RED Spy passed by, and the BLU Spy immediately popped into his head. _Oy, not again!_ He tried to suppress the thoughts.

The Sniper must have been silent for a while, for the Medic peered at him and asked, "Are you alright, Herr Sniper?"

"Uh…yep," he replied hesitantly. "All's well."

The Medic stared at him for a minute more, then shrugged and continued to walk. The Sniper stared out into the desert.

If the Spy attempted to backstab him and the Sniper had to defend himself, how could he kill the Spy after what he had done?

The Sniper readied himself for battle, pushing aside the thoughts. He would deal with the BLU Spy when he saw him.

The end of the match came more quickly than the Sniper thought. Both teams fought vigorously, and neither side had been able to capture the intelligence successfully.

The RED team became increasingly nervous as the timer ticked down. They knew what would happen if neither teams had scored a point by the end of the match.

The Sniper became equally as tense, but for a different reason. So far, he hadn't been approached by the BLU Spy. Once, he thought that he had heard soft footsteps sneak past, but they didn't approach him.

The Announcer impatiently reminded them that they only had a few minutes left as the timer ticked down.

Then:

"YOU'VE FAILED. PREPARE FOR SUDDEN DEATH!" she screeched. She sounded disappointed.

The Sniper got up and put down his sniper rifle as he traded it for his SMG, which would fare better in combat. It was either kill or be killed. At least at the end respawn was re-enabled.

He began to run towards the sewers. If the BLUs were going to look for a Sniper, they would look up, not down. As the Sniper ran down the steps, he heard a tortured scream. He flinched and began to run faster. The scream had come from the sewers and seemed oddly familiar. What if a team member was in trouble?

When he reached the bottom of the steps, he saw the BLU Spy lying face-down in a pool of blood.

The Australian gasped. The Spy was still alive, but barely.

He looked around. There were no RED team members in sight, no one to witness what the Sniper could do with the Spy.

His brain registered thousands of possibilities on what he could do.

He chose the best and probably the stupidest option.

He picked up the Spy and began to drag him farther into the sewers, grunting with effort. The Spy regained consciousness. He blinked groggily and stared up at the Sniper.

"Don't…worry…" the Sniper said. "You'll get…to safety…."

The Spy just coughed, which made the Sniper run a little faster, trying to be silent despite the water. The water ignored his wishes and splashed about loudly. The Sniper silently prayed that no one was nearby.

He came out of the tunnel and under the bridge that connected the two buildings. The Sniper tried to keep the Spy's head above water as he swam towards the BLU section of the sewers.

Once they had reached the stairs, the Sniper put the Spy down.

"Call fer a Medic!" cried the Sniper. "Come on, ya bloody spook, don't die! YELL!"

The Spy sat there for a moment, registering the sentence. Then, he opened his mouth and screamed:

"MEEEEEDIIIIICCC!"

It was a scream of pain, torture, and fear which made the Australian shudder. He then smiled, as he knew the Spy was safe for now.

He heard the distant footsteps of the BLU Medic. The Sniper took one final glance at the Spy and ran off.

* * *

Meanwhile a camera whirred quietly, taking in the incident. The camera took the images to a dark room illuminated only by television screens, where a woman frowned upon the scene unfolding in front of her very eyes.

The woman watched the two teams, paying close attention to the BLU Spy and the RED Sniper. After replaying a couple more videos, she motioned to her assistant.

"Ms. Pauling, what do you see here?" the woman asked. Ms. Pauling scrutinized the flashing screens.

"Well…it appears as if the RED Sniper and the BLU Spy have become friends. Just like what happened between the RED Demoman and the BLU Soldier," Ms. Pauling replied slowly, to which the Administrator waved her hand dismissively.

"_Nothing_ is ever the same as another, Ms. Pauling," she said. "And besides, the only thing we've so far seen between these two is not killing each other in battle. That may be a warning flag. Report to me if they show friendship during cease-fire."

Ms. Pauling nodded and walked away. The sound of her shoes tapping on the ground echoed even after she had left.

* * *

That day, the REDs won the sudden death thanks to a last-minute capture made by the Scout. At the end of the match, only the Spy, the Scout, and the Sniper had remained alive.

The Sniper walked to the respawn room to find the rest of his teammates. They had clearly just respawned, as they were blinking groggily or stumbling around the room. The Demoman came up to him, holding up a bottle of scrumpy.

"Cheers, mate!" the Scotsman said. "We won! Have a pint!"

The Sniper politely took the bottle and took a sip, trying not to gag. He hated drinking, as it made him loose his focus while scoped. He smiled a little after thinking about what the Demoman had said. Despite having saved the BLU Spy, his team had still won.

The Australian smiled, feeling better than he had in days. Maybe everything would be alright, after all.


	3. Chapter 3

The Sniper groaned as he saw the Soldier approaching. "What is it?"

The American glared at him. "According to the Spy, you RESCUED the BLU Spy from death during the stalemate! WHY DID YOU HELP THE ENEMY?"

The Sniper winced and cursed. How did he forget about the RED Spy's cloaking device? The nosy bugger probably followed him when he went and rescued the BLU Spy. The Soldier continued to glare at him impatiently.

"Well? ANSWER ME!" he barked.

"Uh…" the Sniper sputtered. "Well…."

There was a crash. The Soldier and the Sniper turned to see the Scout begin chased by a furious Pyro. The Scout was holding something inflatable and pink, and the Pyro was shouting something that sounded like: "CRMPH BRMK MMPH MMM BMPHMCRMPH!"

The Sniper blinked. "Did 'e say Ballooni—"

The Soldier looked at the Sniper furiously, as if the bushman had created this diversion intentionally to avoid interrogation. "You may have escaped me this time, but I _WILL_ find you and force the answer out of you!"

With that, the Soldier went to sort out the mess. The Sniper sighed with relief, but was troubled by what the Soldier had said.

Why had he saved the Spy, anyways?

Numbly, the Australian walked out to his camper van, still pondering the question. He was numb to the unusually cold weather. He was just about to open the door of the van when a fluttering piece of paper caught his eye.

He stared at it for a minute, then grabbed it before it floated away. It was a note written neatly in cursive. The Sniper squinted at the small, neat handwriting.

_Thank you._

The Sniper stared at the words, and a wide smile soon split his face.

Weeks passed. During battles, the BLU Spy never bothered the RED Sniper, and the Sniper never bothered the Spy. If the Sniper accidentally headshot the Spy while he was disguised, the Spy would backstab him for revenge. Otherwise, they would usually just glance at each other and acknowledge each other.

On the Sniper's birthday, a mysterious box appeared inside his camper van. The Sniper opened it and found what looked like cake. He was delighted of the cake, confused about how the Spy knew about his birthday, and a little freaked out about how the Spy got into his van. The next night, he snuck into the BLU base and put a package containing a vintage Dead Ringer into the Spy's mailbox.

* * *

Meanwhile, the Administrator observed this.

"Ms. Pauling, care to negotiate the ends of the friendship between the two?"

Ms. Pauling frowned and pursed her lips. "I'm not sure that will work. Their friendship has progressed too much throughout October. As you said, this is not the same as when the BLU Soldier and the RED Demoman were friends."

"That I did say," the Administrator agreed. She clasped her hands together. "Ms. Pauling?"

Ms. Pauling checked her clipboard. "I made an appointment with him. It's the best option, although drastic."

"Then let us take the drastic option," said the Administrator. She turned back to the screens.

"After all, friendships between teams must end, no matter what."

* * *

The Sniper woke up to cold. He groggily opened his eyes. The window was open, and a light snow was falling. He got up and shut the window. The bushman shivered and gazed outside. A layer of white covered everything.

The Sniper had only seen snow a few times. Snow was rare in the Badlands, and snow never fell in Australia. But there it was: snow everywhere.

The Sniper closed his eyes. The snow brought back painful memories. He shook his head, trying to clear it. He put on his uniform and went outside to build some new memories.

He leaned against the side of the building, smiling as the small white flakes drifted around him.

All was quiet. The snow fluttered onto the ground.

Suddenly, the Australian was whacked in the side of the head with a frying pan. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

A figure dragged the body into a car and drove off.

* * *

"Hello, Mr. Mundy. Did you have a nice nap?"

The Sniper's eyes snapped open at the sound of his name. He was tied to a chair in a dark room. There was one door and one window. The Australian's eyes widened as he found the source of the voice.

Standing in front of him was himself. Or, rather, a person that looked _exactly_ like him. He even had the same scars and clothes. The man smiled coldly.

"Do you recognized me as who I really am?" the man asked.

The Sniper shook his head numbly. "I don't even know who ya are, wot kinda question is that?" the Australian snapped.

The man smirked. "I wouldn't want your _friend_ to think that something suspicious is going on."

The Sniper struggled against his bonds. "What do you mean?" he spat.

The man began to circle the Sniper and leered at him, which the Sniper hated. It was like he was mocking him. "I'm going to take your place. Just until the REDs get a new Sniper. We'll probably dispose of you."

The man said the word "dispose" like honey. Realization hit the Sniper. "Y-Ye wouldn't dare!" he growled.

"It's just my job," the man said coolly. "You know how the saying goes: money talks. And they did offer me a ridiculous amount of money just to take care of you." An amused note crept into his voice as the Sniper became more horrified. "Honestly, I don't see what the big fuss is about, but…I suppose people have their reasons."

The Australian was silent, thinking.

"Besides, I'll be more useful to your team. Didn't you fail to headshot Medic? You're worthless to your team if you can't do something as simple as _that._ You're just an unwanted burden."

The Sniper felt shame and embarrassment pulse through his body.

"You're nothing but an extra piece," the man hissed. "A replaceable."

_An extra piece._ Those words had reared their ugly head again. They struck a nerve in the Sniper. He flinched. The man saw this and his smile became wider.

"Now…get comfortable. You'll be staying here for a while," he laughed. He strutted out into the hallway and locked the door behind him.

Alone, the Sniper attempted to turn his chair around to face the window. It took some effort, but he eventually managed to do so. The window was wide enough for him to fit though, if he tried. He scooted his chair forwards and ended up falling on his face. The Australian sucked in a breath in pain, when he realized that one of his hands had come loose during the fall. Excited, he untied the ropes binding him and got up. He was so excited to be free that he didn't think twice about what he was going to do next.

The next thing he felt was glass piercing his skin as he flew out the window. He was suspended in the air, almost floating.

This lasted for only a moment, for suddenly, his body met the ground and snow. A loud crack told him that he had broken his leg. It took a couple of moments for his brain to process the pain.

He screamed in agony. The snow was unfeeling and cold. He needed to move, but his leg refused to cooperate.

The Sniper didn't know how long he lay there. All he knew was the pain of the glass, the pain of his leg, the pain of the fact he would die.

_Death._ The thought never struck him as odd until this point. Whenever he had died, he had always respawned. Now, however…he closed his eyes.

At least he wouldn't have to experience the pain.

An animal-like instinct overtook him: the instinct to move somewhere safe. The Sniper crawled forward slowly, painting the snow red.

A man on the roof of the building watched and smiled. He was confident the Sniper wouldn't get far.


End file.
